Second Chances
by Athena Alexandria
Summary: Aaron has lost his faith in Christmas because it's failing to give him the one thing he really wants. Can Kate get it for him? And what will happen when she does? Written for Hellmouth22 for the Lost Secret Santa Fic Exchange.
1. Chapter 1

As you probably saw in the summary, I wrote this for Hellmouth22 for the Lost Secret Santa Fic Exchange. It worked out to be more than three times the required length (I'm chronically incapable of keeping things short! ;)), so I've divided it into three parts -- the whole thing is already written (minus some basic editing) so you should be getting parts 2 and 3 in the next few days. It's a little AU, in order to facilitate the fluff, but hey, it's Christmas!

Oh, yeah, the lyrics at the beginning are from 'Daddy's Gone' by Glasvegas... ;)

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SECOND CHANCES

Part 1.

_How you are my hero  
How you're never here though  
Remember times when you put me on your shoulders  
How I wish it was forever you would hold us  
Right now I'm too young to know  
How in the future it will affect me when you go  
You could have had it all  
You, me, and mum y'know  
Anything was possible_

_I wont be the lonely one  
Sitting on my own and sad  
A fifty year old  
Reminiscing what I had_

_All I wanted was a kick-a-bout in the park  
For you to race me home when it was nearly getting dark  
How I could've been yours, and you be mine  
It could've been me and you until the end of time…_

Kate stood in the kitchen, staring at the picture she'd pinned to the fridge a few days earlier.

It was the first year Aaron would be old enough to have some idea of what was happening; she'd taken him to the mall to see Santa, but the experience wasn't as much fun as she'd anticipated, for either of them.

Nothing about this Christmas was…

"_What's your name, little boy?" Santa asked, hoisting Aaron onto his lap._

_Her son – who was normally talkative around strangers, to the point that it worried her sometimes – shut his mouth then, fixing him with a stubborn expression. _

"_Aaron. His name is Aaron, isn't it, bud?" she answered for him, ruffling his hair with an encouraging smile, surprised when he recoiled from her._

"_Have you been a good boy for Mommy this year, Aaron?" Santa tried again, only to have his question ignored._

"_I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him," she insisted, confused by the sudden change in her son's behaviour. It wasn't like him to throw a tantrum; she'd never seen him act like this before. "I guess he's just not used to all this attention."_

"_We see it in kids his age all the time," the photographer assured her, shooting her a sympathetic look as she adjusted her equipment._

"_What would you like Santa to bring you, Aaron?"_

"_Can you smile for the camera, honey?"_

_He slouched down lower, shrinking into himself as he scowled into the lens._

_"Santa asked you a question, Sweet pea," she prompted him, nudging his shoulder. She tickled him under his chin to try to coax a laugh out of him. "What d'you want him to bring you for Christmas?"_

_"Daddy," he announced, his jaw quivering, and she let her hand fall back to her side, gaping at him in shock. "Daddy gone. Want him bring Daddy back."_

_"Jack isn't your daddy, baby," she reminded him when she realised who he was referring to, fighting back tears of her own when his face crumpled, and he began to cry…_

She didn't know how to comfort him so she'd collected their picture and hurried him out of there, to the toy store to distract him; that was the image that confronted her now, every time she went into the kitchen: her depressed little boy looking heartbroken because she couldn't get him the one thing he really wanted for Christmas.

_"Kate! Good. I wasn't sure you'd be home," Veronica said as Kate let her into the house. "I think I left my coat here yesterday."_

_It was still there, hanging over the back of the couch. "This one?" Kate asked, picking it up for her._

_"Yeah," she agreed, folding it over her arm. "Thanks."_

_She followed Kate back into the kitchen, where Aaron was sitting – still subdued – at the table, scrawling across a sheet of construction paper. "So how'd the Santa visit go?"_

_Without saying a word, Kate retrieved the picture from the sideboard and handed it to her._

_"Didn't like it, huh?" she asked, studying it with an affectionate grin. "You know, a lot of kids are afraid their first time."_

_Kate wished that that was all that it was. "When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he said 'Daddy'," she told her with a meaningful look._

_She could see that Veronica was just as surprised as she was. "Jack?" she checked._

_Kate sighed. "He misses him," she agreed, struggling to keep her own emotions in check as he selected a black crayon from the pile, filling the page with dark scribbles. She'd been so busy nursing her own broken heart that she hadn't noticed how much he was hurting. "What d'you think I should do?"_

_Veronica set the picture down on the bench and back against it, watching him with a thoughtful expression. "Honestly? You've got two choices – you can give Aaron time, hope he forgets, or you can just call him…"_

She couldn't let him get caught in the crossfire of what had happened between her and Jack; for better or worse, he was still Aaron's uncle, and a big part of his life.

Before she could change her mind and back out, she lifted the receiver and punched in his number, sucking in a deep breath to calm her nerves as she waited for him to pick up.

"Hey, it's me," she told him when he answered with a gruff, "Hello".

It was the first contact they'd had in weeks. "Kate," he said and she could hear how taken aback he was to hear that she was calling after all but kicking him out; his voice was slurred, like he'd just woke up, or…

She shuddered, pushing the thought out of her head. She didn't want to think about that now.

"What's wrong? Is Aaron okay?" he pressed, trying to sound more alert than he was.

Now that she had him on the line, she had no idea what to say to him. "He's fine, but he… He misses you," she admitted, but while she resisted adding, "We both do", the words lingered there, unspoken, in the air between them.

She heard his breath hitch, but he didn't respond, and for a moment, she was afraid that he'd hung up.

"Are you still there?" she checked when the silence reached an unbearable level. Silence was half the problem; she'd never felt such a strong urge to fill it before.

"Yeah," he assured her. "I just… What d'you want me to do, Kate?" He almost seemed angry with her for reminding him of something he'd obviously tried to shut out of his mind.

"I want you to come over for dinner, Christmas Eve," she rushed on, irritated by how quick he'd been to give up: on her, on them, on Aaron.... That was the part that hurt the most, because it wasn't him. He was better than that. "Just for an hour or so."

He sighed. "Kate," he repeated, his tone softening, as though trying to save her from the sting of another rejection. "I don't think—"

But whether he deserved it right now or not, her son loved him. She wasn't going to let him disappoint him again.

Not on Christmas.

"I'm not asking for me, I'm asking for Aaron," she insisted. "Please, Jack – it would mean a lot to him to have you here."

To both of us, she added where he couldn't hear her.

There was another long pause on his end. "Okay," he agreed, sighing again. "Just tell me what to bring and I'll be there."

Even though he couldn't see it, she found herself smiling. Maybe there was hope of getting through to him yet. "Thank you," she told him as she disconnected.

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Part 2: Jack arrives to spend some quality time with Aaron... ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews. I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying it! (I think two year old Aaron would be the ultimate Jater -- he just wants his family back together.) Now on to the holiday fluff... ;)

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Part 2.

"You wanna come with me to get that, Sweet pea?" Kate asked Aaron when the doorbell rang on Christmas Eve, sneaking a glance at the mirror to check her hair as she walked him to the door. In the end, she'd decided against telling him about Jack's visit, afraid that he would change his mind again and break the promise that he'd made her.

But to her relief, they opened it to him standing on the doorstep in a dark dress shirt and jeans, a brightly wrapped package tucked under one arm while he nursed a small red and green plant in the other.

He looked worse than the last time she'd seen him: tired and hung over, her eyes going straight to the thick beard that had begun to sprout from his chin.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she managed back, covering her shock by flashing him a tight smile. "Thanks for coming over."

She smoothed the fabric over her hips, as nervous as if he were picking her up for their first date. She'd changed several times several times while she waited for him to finish his shift, before settling on the red silk blouse and black skirt that she was now wearing.

"You look beautiful," he told her with a wry smile when he caught this action, and she felt herself flush, unnerved by how well he could still read her.

"Merry Christmas," he murmured, his voice low and wistful as he leaned towards her; she froze, wondering if he was going to try to kiss her, relieved and disappointed when he gave her a chaste peck on the cheek, the unfamiliar beard coarse and scratchy against the sensitive skin.

Her heart gave a painful jolt as she caught a hint of that Jack scent, the one that she could still smell on his pillow at night. How was it that he could he still have that effect on her, even when she was supposed to be mad at him?

"Hey, buddy," he greeted Aaron when he spotted him standing a few feet back from her.

The little boy lit up with excitement before scurrying back into the house; Kate exchanged a puzzled glance with Jack, trying to decide if he expected them to follow, until he emerged from the living room a minute later with a piece of folded paper.

"Wow, this is great. Did you draw this?" Jack asked when he presented the handmade card to him. None of the words on it were legible, but when he saw her writing them he'd insisted on copying her.

Aaron nodded, beaming up at him. "Mommy, Daddy, me," he explained, pointing to each of the crayon scribbles on the front.

Jack swallowed, flashing him a watery smile, and she could see that he was overwhelmed by the gesture, torn between feeling flattered and guilty; he caught him in an awkward embrace as he launched himself at his legs.

He couldn't hug him and balance his parcels at the same time, so after a moment, she pried Aaron loose.

"Come in," she said to alleviate some of the tension, stepping aside to let him past, cringing at how formal the words sounded.

He followed them into the house, surveying his surroundings as if to make sure that everything was still the same; his gaze fell on a row of framed pictures: of her and Aaron, and some the three of them that she hadn't had the heart to take down, before turning away, back to her.

"This is for you," he told her, seeming to remember his manners as he offered the plant to her.

"It's a poinsettia," he explained when she blinked at him in surprise, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Apparently they're very festive."

"Thank you," she said, touched, as she accepted it. She hadn't really expected him to bring anything. Just having him there was enough. "That was sweet."

She carried it into the dining room, and set it down on the table, next to the centrepiece.

He paused in the doorway behind her, gesturing to the parcel under his arm. "This one's for Aaron. Do you mind if I give it to him now?"

"Of course not," she agreed, knowing how ecstatic Aaron would be at having his attention.

He crouched down with a tentative smile, placing it into his hands. "Merry Christmas, buddy."

As Aaron sank onto the rug, tearing off strips of paper with glee, Kate reached for her camera, unwilling to let such a precious moment pass without a capturing it.

Inside was a bright blue remote control motorcycle, complete with toy rider; Aaron watched with rapt attention as Jack freed it from the box and showed him what to do with it, stomping his little feet and squealing with delight when, on his turn, he sent it crashing straight into the wall.

It was the happiest that she'd seen either of them in a long time; she was glad that she'd let Veronica talk her into inviting Jack over.

Aaron saved them from having to make polite conversation by chatting all the way through dinner; afterwards, Jack helped her with the dishes while they watched him dart in and out of the room, playing with his new toy. Occasionally Jack had to go rescue it from where it was wedged beneath the couch or a cabinet; after a while, Kate began to suspect that her son was doing it on purpose, to get him to join in the game.

"Well, I should be heading off," he said, a reluctant note in his voice, drying his hands on a dishcloth as she finished laying the last of the cutlery back in the drawer.

She'd almost forgotten that it wasn't a normal night for them, that sooner or later, he would have to go back to his apartment. "No one's asking you to," she told him, wishing that he would stay with them a little while longer.

But before he could say his goodbyes, the remote clattered to the floorboards, and they both looked over in time to see Aaron bolt from the room.

"He's a ball of energy tonight," Kate commented, smiling at Jack as they waited to see what he would do, wondering if he knew that he was the reason. He had so little faith in himself as a father.

"Daddy read," Aaron insisted, shoving a book – _The Night Before Christmas_ – into Jack's hands on his reappearance. It had been sitting on his dresser for weeks, but he would never allow Kate read it to him; she'd assumed that he wasn't interested, but now she realised that it wasn't the story, but the reader, that was wrong.

He wanted Jack.

Jack stared at him, stunned. "Sure, buddy," he agreed, forcing a smile once he managed to recover from his shock at being referred to in that way. His gaze flicked over to Kate. "But why don't you let… Mommy… get you ready for bed first?"

Aaron shook his head. "No, _Daddy_. Daddy do," he sang, slipping his little hand through his and tugging him towards the stairs.

"He wants you to do it," she told him with a reassuring nod when he hesitated, as if he unsure that she would approve. "You should go."

Aaron wasn't in any danger from him when he was sober and on his best behaviour like this, so she finished straightening up to give them some time alone before going up to check on them.

When she poked her heard into her son's room a short while later, he was tucked up in bed while Jack sat beside him in his usual chair; if it wasn't for his haggard appearance, she might have believed that they'd travelled back in time.

"Daddy Santa," Aaron announced, and Kate smiled when his gaze travelled from the illustrations to Jack, grasping at the end of his beard.

Even Jack seemed amused, letting out a soft chuckle as he allowed to him feel it. "You like it, huh?" he said, wincing as he pulled a little too hard, and Aaron nodded.

"Tickles," he agreed.

With a grin, Jack went back to the story: _"His eyes – how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow…"_

"Daddy?" Aaron sighed as his eyelids began to flutter.

Whatever reservations Jack had about his new title, he seemed to have stopped fighting it by then. "Yeah, buddy?" he agreed, marking their place with his finger as he closed the book.

"Daddy stay?" Aaron pleaded, and Jack eyed him with a wary look, until he added, "Daddy stay for Santa?"

"He wants to know if you'll still be here when he wakes up," Kate explained, folding her arms, bracing her shoulder against the doorframe.

Jack glanced up at her, startled, unaware of her presence until that moment.

"We have room," she told him as his wary expression returned, and he relaxed, turning back to Aaron with a slow nod.

"I'll see you in the morning," he agreed.

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding, relived that he was humouring his request.

But if she was honest with herself, it was more than that: she wanted him to stay, forever, if they could arrange it.

Jack gave him a tiny smile as he stood, smoothing the fair bangs back from his forehead in a gesture of tenderness that Kate found surprising. "Goodnight, Aaron."

"'Night, Daddy," he said with a sweet smile, snuggling under the covers while Jack tucked him in. "'Night, Mommy."

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Part 3: Jate time as Jack helps Kate play Santa Claus... ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews. I'm happy you think it's such a great present! I was going to end it with this chapter, but since everyone has been so amazing, I'm thinking of adding an epilogue... ;)

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Part 3.

"He really loves you, you know," Kate told Jack, pulling the door shut behind them.

His recent absence had done nothing to break the bond that he and Aaron developed while he was living there: if anything, it was _stronger_ now that they'd had time to miss each other. He was a hero in her son's eyes; she just wished that that was enough for him.

"That's what worries me," he confessed, his smile fading, and she knew that he was thinking of Claire: he seemed to view any sense of ownership he felt towards Aaron as a betrayal of her – and of her son – even though she was the one who'd left him alone in the jungle.

He frowned as a new thought seemed to occur to him. "You didn't tell him to call me that, did you?" he asked. "Daddy?"

His tone was wary, but as hard as he tried to keep it hidden, she could see that he didn't mind hearing it as much as he wanted to, as much as he felt he should.

"No," she assured him, a stab of guilt piercing her heart as she remembered all of the made attempts she'd made to talk him out of it. It wasn't that she didn't think he could do it: she just didn't want her son to get hurt again. "But you're the only father he's ever known, Jack – can you really blame him for thinking that way?"

"No, I guess not," he agreed, but she could see that that didn't make it any less confusing for him. All she could do was give him time and hope that he came around.

Of course they still needed to have a conversation, but she didn't want to get into that now. "Can we put the past behind us? Just for tonight," she insisted. It was supposed to be their first holiday as a couple: she didn't want to spend it fighting with him.

He nodded to show that he understood; that he wasn't going to press the issue.

"So what happens now?" he asked as he followed her down the hall to the bedroom – _their_ bedroom – stopping when he reached the door, his hands shoved inside his pockets as if he wasn't sure what to do with them. His presence there was so familiar, and yet so foreign to her now – like something from another life – that she found her mind wandering back, wondering if it was ever real.

He was only supposed to be there for Aaron; she knew that she could just tell him to go home and come back in a few hours when he was awake, but the thought of them spending the rest of the evening alone, at their own places, filled her with sadness.

This wasn't how she'd pictured their relationship turning out.

"Well, you could make yourself useful and help me with these gifts," she told him to lighten the mood as she opened her closet.

She retrieved a stack of packages from the top shelf and dumped them into his arms, loading him up with as many as she could before collecting the rest herself.

"These're all for Aaron?" he checked, inspecting them with a dubious look, and she saw a hint of the old Jack in his eyes as he teased, "Don't you think you might've gone a little overboard?"

"At Christmas? Is that even possible?" she retorted with a mock incredulous grin as she kicked the door shut.

"He's two years old, Kate – he won't even remember this in a year," he insisted, but when she glanced over at him, he was smiling; he seemed to be enjoying their banter as much as she was.

Maybe she _was_ overcompensating for something. "I guess I just want him to have more than I had," she agreed. So far, she wasn't doing a very good job of that: she couldn't give him the one thing that he really wanted, the one thing that her own mother had denied her.

"He's a lucky kid," he told her, his expression serious when their eyes met.

Once again, their conversation had strayed into dangerous territory; she wasn't sure how to interpret this – or even if he'd meant anything by it – so she channelled her focus into directing him in where to put the gifts instead.

"So that's it?" Jack checked, trailing after her once everything was arranged under the tree.

"There's one more in the garage," she told him, unlocking the door to where an array of junk – from boxes of old papers to Aaron's crib – sat stacked on either side of her silver Volvo.

"Where…?"

Before he could finish the question, she pulled back the sheet covering a red, yellow and blue tricycle, an oversized bow adorning the handlebars. "Ta da. He loves watching the big kids ride their bikes at the park, so I'm hoping he's old enough now," she told him, stopping when she caught him staring at it with a pensive look.

"What?" she pressed with a self-conscious smile. "You think I should wait a few more months?"

He shook his head. "I was just thinking about the day we bought it," he confessed in a soft voice.

They'd picked it out together, not long before they'd gotten engaged. "I remember," she agreed. "The sales guy kept calling me your wife."

Her smile faded almost as soon as it appeared. They'd laughed about it at the time – each secretly thrilled that someone would make that mistake – but it wasn't funny now.

She still couldn't believe how fast it had all changed: one day they were happy, the next, he was gone.

"Can you bring that in for me?" she asked to break the uncomfortable silence that followed.

She left him to carry it out to the living room while she went back upstairs to the bedroom.

He was slumped on the couch, staring at the tree, when she returned; he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Hey. I have something for you," she told him, smoothing out the creases on a large squarish package. For weeks, she'd debated giving it to him, afraid that it would only complicate their relationship further, but now it felt right.

She couldn't keep it any longer. She wanted him to have it: part of her hope that it would reawaken something inside of him, because she sensed that he was on the cusp of a major epiphany.

He glanced up at her, his eyes wide with surprise. "You didn't have to do that," he insisted, sitting up straighter. He ran his free hand over his beard, looking guilty as he admitted, "I don't have anything for you."

But what she wanted from him wasn't a gift; at least not one that could be wrapped. "Just open it," she told him, folding her leg beneath her as she sank down beside him, hugging a throw pillow to her chest. She had no idea how he was going to react, but she had to try.

When he saw that she wasn't going to take no for an answer, he turned his attention from arguing to loosening the wrapping. "You made this?" he asked, eyeing her with a questioning look as he freed a scrapbook from its folds.

"Yeah," she agreed, biting her lip as she watched him examine it. She'd wanted to give him something special, something that would show him what all those months with him had meant to her, but until that morning, it had been sitting at the back of her closet, gathering dust.

She could feel her face flaming as he lifted back the cover. Inside were all of her best memories of their life together; she felt so exposed as he turned each of the pages, alternately smiling and grappling with more complex emotions, that she almost wished she'd just thrown it away.

Neither of them spoke until he reached the end.

The last picture was her favourite.

"This was…"

"…Our first date," she agreed.

They'd already been together for a few weeks by then, but it was the first time they'd been out without Aaron. They ate dinner at a café overlooking the water, and afterwards, they'd gone for a walk along the boardwalk, where an elderly couple had offered to take it for them.

Later, they'd agreed how sweet it was that they still seemed so in love after all that time; right up until the moment he left, she'd believed that, in a few years, they would _be_ that couple.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concentration as he traced the image with his finger.

They were so happy then, still delirious with the thrill of being able to spend time together without guns and monsters and trials and all of the daily drama that had plagued them on and _off_ of the island.

"I found it on an old roll of film," she explained. "I put it in to get some pictures of Aaron developed and there it was."

"Do you ever wish we could go back?" he asked, his voice so low that she had to strain to hear it.

"Every day," she agreed. She raised her eyes back to his with a meaningful look. "Maybe we can." The only thing stopping them was him.

"You really think I deserve a second chance?" he asked. "After everything I put you through?"

"Why not?" she agreed. "You gave me one." She let out a self-deprecating laugh. "And a third, and a fourth…"

His love for her had never faltered, even when she was at her worst; he'd set aside his issues to come there tonight because he knew that it was important to her.

If nothing else, he deserved her forgiveness for the bad judgement he'd been exercising of late.

He smiled. "I guess we're both as bad as each other then, huh?" he teased her.

"Damaged goods," she reminded him with a wry smile, sobering as she added, "But I meant what I said, Jack – you need to get help." She would stand by him if he could prove to her that he wanted to change, but she couldn't let him kill himself anymore: that wasn't the life that she wanted for her son, or herself. "You can't keep using alcohol as a way to solve your problems."

He gave her a slight nod. "You're right. You're so right – I don't wanna be that guy," he agreed; while he didn't say it, she knew that he was talking about his father. _Her_ father.

"I don't want Aaron to be ashamed of me," he whispered, swallowing hard, and she found herself blinking back tears of her own.

She didn't want that either: she wanted her son to know the Jack that she'd fallen in love with, not the shadow of himself that he'd become.

"When you're ready, we can talk about what happened, but not tonight," she told him. Maybe it wasn't too late to salvage what was left of their first holiday together.

She curled against him, nestling her head in the crook of his shoulder. "Tonight I just wanna be with you, like this."

He smiled down at her, running his fingers through her hair; she lifted it to look at him, and as their eyes locked, they both moved in, their lips meeting in a delicate kiss, until she couldn't stand the feel of his beard tickling her anymore.

"You're gonna have to do something about this," she complained as she pushed him away. She raised a hand to his cheek, cringing at the rough texture of it under her fingertips.

"Aaron's right – it does make you look a little like Santa," she told him, bursting into peals of laughter when he looked miffed.

"I'm not _that_ old," he insisted, but it wasn't long before he was laughing at himself too.

"Merry Christmas, Kate," he murmured, pulling her in for another kiss, and this time, she didn't object.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," she agreed.


	4. Epilogue

Thanks for the reviews. Here is the promised epilogue -- it takes place on Christmas morning, but when? ;)

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Epilogue

"Mommy! Daddy! Come see what Santa bringed me!" an excited voice cried as the door banged open and Aaron flew into the room.

Beside Jack, Kate stirred, burrowing into his chest with an unhappy frown. "What time is it?" she murmured without opening her eyes.

The first rays of dawn had just begun to stream in through the curtains; Jack glanced over at the clock on the nightstand, an affectionate grin spreading over his features when he saw that it was only a little after 5am.

It was early, even for Aaron, but he didn't seem to care as he crawled up onto the bed. "Wake up, Mommy!" he insisted, bouncing up and down on his knees on the end of the mattress. "It's Chwistmas!"

Jack nudged her with his shoulder. "Did you hear that, Mommy?" he asked, laughing when she just groaned. "Our son says it's time to get up."

"I'm awake," she agreed with a sigh, rolling over onto her back, still bleary eyed as she added, "Okay, baby. You go ahead – Mommy and Daddy will be down in a minute."

Once he was convinced that they would be right behind him, Aaron scrambled to the floor and disappeared from sight again.

"How about I make you a strong cup of coffee?" Jack offered, leaning over to greet her with a sweet good morning kiss when he was gone.

"I'll be fine once I get going," she assured him, struggling to sit up.

"In that case, we probably shouldn't keep him waiting any longer," he teased her with a grin as they heard footsteps on the landing.

"It's okay, buddy – we're coming now," he told Aaron, swinging his legs over the side of the bed when the little boy stuck his head back into the room, hopping from foot to foot, his pale brow furrowed with disapproval.

He allowed him to take him by the hand and propel him out of the bedroom, to the stairs, enjoying the sight of his face splitting into a grin as he spotted the pile of neatly wrapped packages under the tree.

The next hour was spent watching Aaron open his gifts, playing with each for a few minutes before abandoning it in favour of the next; while Kate's focus was on him, Jack slipped back up to the bedroom to retrieve something from the pocket of his coat.

She looked so happy, he thought as he returned to the living room, clapping her hands and laughing when Aaron showed her the Lego structure he was building.

Her expression changed to one of surprise when she turned to say something to him and saw the small, rectangular box in his hands.

"Merry Christmas," he told her, pecking her lips as he presented her with it.

She opened it to reveal a silver chain with a modest diamond set into the pendant.

"Do you like it?" he asked her. When he'd seen it in the store, it had just reminded him of her: perfect in its simplicity.

She nodded, grinning as she looked from the necklace back to him. "It's beautiful – thank you."

"The way I see it, I still have last year to make up for," he explained as she kissed him again, longer this time.

When they finally broke, she turned around, lifting her hair up for him, and he fastened it on for her, smiling as he settled back to admire the effect.

"I have something for you too," she told him, flashing him a secretive smile as she slid off the couch. She picked one of the few remaining packages up from underneath the tree, barely able to contain her eagerness as she perched beside him and he took it from her.

Inside was a white onesie with the words 'My First Christmas' embroidered on it in red, green and gold stitching; he glanced up at her, mystified, wondering if he'd somehow missed the joke. "All we need now is a baby to put it on," he teased her.

She just smiled, giving him a slight, expectant nod, and he felt his eyes widen with shock as realisation hit him.

"How long have you known?" he asked her, grinning as it began to sink in.

After everything that he'd been through – from his father and Sarah, to all of the bad things that had happened on and after the island – he still felt so lucky just to have her and Aaron; until that moment, he was almost afraid to ask for anything more.

"A couple of days. I've wanted to tell you so many times, but I figured I'd wait and surprise you," she explained.

He let out a disbelieving laugh. "Well this is definitively a surprise," he told her, in awe as he held the tiny piece of clothing up in front of him.

Of course, in the back of his mind, he'd always know that it was a possibility; as a doctor, he shouldn't be so amazed, but he was.

He loved Aaron – while he hadn't exactly embraced him at first, he could no longer imagine his life without him – but there was something special about this: a child that would be an amalgamation of the best parts of both of them.

"I'm glad you did," he told her, sobering as he folded it back up and set it aside, ready for next Christmas.

"Yeah?" She swung her leg over his so that she was straddling his lap, slipping her arms around his neck for support.

"Yeah. This is the best gift anyone's ever given me," he confessed, bringing his palm to the place where her tank top didn't quite meet her shorts, stroking the exposed skin with his thumb.

He smiled as his gaze travelled from her, over her shoulder to Aaron – on the floor where they'd left him, populating his Lego house with little plastic toys: his family. He'd never believed that it would happen for him, but it had, and for that he would always be grateful.

The news that Kate had just given him only made it that much sweeter.

She beamed back at him, tightening her grip on him; drawing him in closer. "Me too," she whispered.

* * *

I know -- all my epilogues end with Jabies! But I just think it's such a perfect place for Jack and Kate to end up -- I feel justified now that the flashforwards seem to support the idea that parenthood is a crucial part of their arcs! ;)

So that's it. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh, and Merry Christmas! ;)


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